Review: Lady Mechanika
Steampunk cyborg Lady Mechanika is a Victorian bounty hunter with a mysterious past and an uncertain future. Having no memories of her origins, she searches for clues in the city of Mechanika, where half-mechanical figures have been reported in the back alleys and in the nearby Darqueshire Moor...
There are hints that the shady industrialist Lord Blackpool may be connected to these bizarre phenomena; his company specialises in new technology (including weaponry) from which the city benefits. Has Blackpool been conducting horrific experiments upon missing persons within dark, secret laboratory?
Lady Mechanika, created, written and drawn by Joe Benitez, is a Gothic horror / sci-fi action blend, elegantly and stylishly executed. Our heroine is a cultured, educated Victorian lady by day (complete with bodice, bustle and bonnet) and a leather-clad fighting machine (sporting very effective metal limbs) by night. Think: Emily Brontë meets Robocop...
This is a complex story and very well-written with lots of quintessentially English dialogue. The artwork is finely detailed, always following the 19th century theme: the territory of Sherlock Holmes, Downton Abbey, Frankenstein and H G. Wells. If you liked The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen you will find the same rich period motifs here: a romantic past with a retro-futurist twist.
You can tell this is a labour of love by Benitez, who has poured his steam punk heart into this. Here we have a perfect example of someone who is totally absorbed by a particular genre and who then creates something within that style that will captivate a new legion of fans in exactly the same way. Mechanika's quest takes in faceless assassins, disturbing cyborg creatures, a circus family of Romany gypsies who are more than they appear to be, and a masquerade aboard a grand, city-sized airship...
How many spectacular marvels will she encounter before she solves the greatest puzzle of all... Herself?
Zak Webber
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